Obama expands the NSA's ability to share data with other agencies

Google Transparency Report now breaks out US court orders

Google has frequently expanded the coverage of its Transparency Report with each update, and it's not about to stop today. The search giant's latest report now illustrates US court orders by type, including wiretaps, pen registers (phone routing info) and potentially life-saving emergency disclosures. As you'll see both above and in charts after the break, these specialized court orders make up just nine percent of government requests -- the bulk are either subpoenas or warrants, not all of which require a judge.

Meanwhile, things aren't looking good for those who've been hoping for less state surveillance. Google says that the volume of government data requests worldwide has more than doubled in the past three years, with about 42 percent of the latest batch coming from the US. The company also notes that this is only what it can report; without the legal authority to disclose FISA requests, it can only provide an incomplete picture at best.